9. How I Wonder Where You Are
Duration (Real time): December 2004 - June 2005 Duration (Game time): 2391.05.17 - 2391.05.28 Location: Pandora Station/USS Solstice/Surface of Pandora II Synopsis: Someone kidnapped Commander Jalando, and used him and other crewmembers to take control of Pandora Station. Stardates 2391.05.17 - 2391.05.19 (December 2004) 2391.05.17 In a standard Starfleet shuttle, Commander Jalando, together with ASTC Keening and Helmsman Ban, brought the Dholari Mr. T'hims home. T'hims had been stranded on Pandora since may 2nd, because he had sneaked on board a Venoghrian ship. And since the relationship between the Venoghrians and the Dholari wasn't all that swell, Commander Jalando and his team decided to take Mr. T'hims home themselves. After all, they might even come up with diplomatic solutions to the Venoghrian/Dholari conflict. But something went horribly wrong. Out of nowhere, a few ships started attacking the shuttle. In no-time, the shuttle's shields and weapons systems were disabled, letting aliens in space-suits beam on board. They stunned both Lt. Keening and Mr. Ban, and abducted Commander Jalando and Mr. T'hims. 2391.05.18 Completely unknown of what happened just the day before, life on Pandora Station continued the way it normally did. However, when, by an accident, a weather program was activated, it started snowing in the Park! This was only holographic snow, but still, it was snow. Most of the children of Pandora Station quickly came to the Park in their lunchbreak, and started playing in the snow. But not only children were there: also Security Officer Zang, Lt. Vrass, Prylar Nivas, and Reporter Darnena were there, enjoying this -probably once in a lifetime- experience. After all, how often does it snow inside a Space Station? 2391.05.19 While Commander Jalando was captured, he was being tortured quite a lot, until Mr. Zytl, the Ythokan leader, brought him along for medical treatment. Once Jalando lay on a biobed, he was partially paralysed, so that the Doctor could treat him easily. Or would they use Jalando's inability to move as a way to get the information they needed? On Pandora Station, meanwhile, Captain Kane was rudely woken up because of a transmission, coming in from an unknown source. This transmission stated that they had kidnapped Commander Jalando, and that they would contact Pandora Station later with their demands. Almost immediately Captain Kane ordered a staff-meeting, in which it was decided that the Solstice would at least be prepared, so that they could leave and search for the Commander, and the shuttle with Keening and Ban, whenever they knew where to look. About an hour after the staff-meeting, Pandora Station received a message from the Huygens Array, which told them that they had received an automated distress signal, coming from a Starfleet Shuttle! So, the order was given to prepare for launch: the Solstice would go look for the missing shuttle. Stardates 2391.05.18 - 2391.05.21 (January 2005) 2391.05.18 The snow continued to fall down in Pandora Station's Park, giving more enjoyment to its inhabitants. The children still played with lots of energy when the snowball fight got an abrupt ending when Wahlis decided to retreat when an Andorian in his team got hurt. Melissa and Yalon, who fought the kids together, were left behind, but when Melissa thanked the Yridian for his help the two teenagers got into a heated argument and both went their own ways. Not only children experienced some heated discussions though. After that Zang accidentally hit Prylar Nivas with a snowball, she was declared to be an instrument of the prophets and thus also a religious symbol. The Security officer wasn't happy but Darnena was overjoyed, seeing only a great article before her eyes. Prylar Nivas was also having problems accepting the fact brought up by Lt. Vrass, that people were afraid of the priest. Zang and Darnena left to talk over their differences in opinion over lunch, while Nivas and Vrass stayed behind in the park. 2391.05.19 The Delta Flyer Phoenix, with Lt. Vrass and Ensigns Stone and Jux, departed from Pandora just minutes before the Solstice. However, while the Solstice's journey towards the Commander's shuttle was uneventful, the Delta Flyer got a big surprise when they reached the debris field. A vessel appeared out of nowhere just minutes after they arrived and the crew were left in a crippled state, with no communications, long range sensors or warp drive. Only impulse engines was operational, which left them with a two year journey back to Pandora Station. 2391.05.20 In sickbay Lt. Truesdale got a surprise visit by the Captain's stepdaughter, Melissa Kinnard. She complained on her sudden change of feelings towards a certain someone and it was revealed she thought she was starting to like Yalon, the Yridian she had always thought annoying and ugly. Truesdale offered her help, and the two talked awhile about it, after which Melissa left, seemingly in a better mood. 2391.05.21 The Ythokan leader, Zytl, wasn't lying when he said Commander Jalando would get treated for his injuries and after two days of recuperation, Jalando got to see Zytl again. This time, with an important agenda at hand, Zytl wanted information. Information it seemed only the Commander could give him, he refused to give it naturally and after some threats, Zytl sent him away for the only 'viable' option left. What that is though, remains to be seen. Earlier in the morning, the same day, the Solstice reached its destination. Shuttle Amargosa was found badly damaged with only two occupants onboard, the two were beamed to sickbay were the Doctors found out they were unable to revive them from their unconscious state. Lt. Nel didn't bring good news either to Captain Kane, when he told him he couldn't find anything identifying the attackers. It wasn't until later in the morning that good news came; Doctors Vok and Underhill had successfully revived the two drugged officers. But the happiness didn't last long since it soon became apparent neither Keening nor Ban could remember anything about the attack. A bit later, a second message was received from the kidnappers, which stated they are ready to announce their demands but would only do so in front of a negotiation team of max three people. It was quickly decided that Ensigns Vok, Flanigan and Petty Officer Zang would go; Dr.Vok because Jalando might be injured, Flanigan has experience in negotiations and Zang for extra security due to the potentially dangerous mission. On Pandora Station, Lt. Truesdale was awakened by the arrival of the station's new AOPS, Ensign Tucker. Truesdale decides to combine medical exam and briefing in one, but it was interrupted by a call from the Captain. After an update on the situation on the Solstice, Truesdale informed the Captain that she hadn't heard anything from the Delta Flyer yet. Thankfully later on the day, the Phoenix returned with its crew unharmed but the Flyer itself was in a bad shape. The new ASTC, Ensign Edan took notice of it too and wanted to know what had happened and so it was decided he will be brought up to speed of recent events while Truesdale debriefs Vrass, Stone and Jux. February 2005 2391.05.21 The Delta Flyer Phoenix got back to Pandora Station, after being attacked by an unknown enemy. The Engineering and Security departments immediately started repairing the Flyer, and trying to find out what happened. They were hindered by Reporter Darnena, who was trying to write an article about it all... 2391.05.25 Commander Jalando and four Dholari, Agent T'hims included, arrived at the Solstice. The Dholari had liberated Commander Jalando and T'hims from captivity by Mr. Zytl, but they also brought terrible news: In the staff meeting that followed Jalando's return, the Commander showed three scarred and battered commbadges: the commbadges of Ensigns Flanigan and Vok, and Petty Officer Zang. These officers had been part of a negotiation team to negotiate for the Commander's release. Unfortunately, their shuttle had been attacked, and crashed on the moon, after which the officers had been taken prisoner and taken before Jalando when he was still imprisoned by Mr. Zytl. When Jalando still refused to tell secrets of Pandora Station to Mr. Zytl, the Ythokan had executed Flanigan, Zang and Vok. Immediately after Jalando had told this at the meeting, he requested counseling sessions with Counselor Tek. 2391.05.27 When the Solstice finally returned at Pandora Station, the news, which both Captain Kane and Commander Jalando had to bring to 2O Truesdale, was far from pleasant: telling someone that one's lover had died was, according to the two command officers, best done in private. Truesdale's reaction would obviously be far from pleasant either. March 2005 2391.05.27 Doctor Truesdale did not take the news of Flanigan, Zang and Vok's deaths well. After she was told the news, the Doctor grabbed her lover's commbadge -- the one thing that could be saved -- and ran away... trying to outrun the sorrow. She couldn't. 2391.05.28 While a new day had arrived on Pandora Station, the emotions of the previous days continued to make their presence known: several crewmembers could still not believe that their colleagues were gone. But unfortunately, there was no time to mourn. For at 0802 in the morning, the power suddenly went off. Just for a second or so, before it came back online. The crew in Main Ops immediately asked Virt for an explanation... but they quickly found out that Virt was gone: he could not be activated. Furthermore, several key-systems could not be accessed. When the Pandora Crew started investigating what was going on, tragedy struck again. On Deck 37 an explosion occurred. Two crewmembers died. Only Engineer Janssens managed to get out alive, but his condition was still critical. Immediately, Captain Kane ordered an investigation: Damage control teams, one lead by Lieutenant Nel, were being put into action to find the cause of this explosion... April 2005 2391.05.28 The damage control teams who had gathered on deck 39, to find out what caused this explosion, had some unbelievable news. It seemed that a thruster assembly, which had been offline for repairs, had been activated. This had caused the explosion. Further investigation confirmed that there had been no order to fire these thrusters. It wasn't clear though how these thrusters could have fired, since the computer was offline, and not accepting commands anymore. In another Jeffries tube, a security team, lead by Ensign Mera, made a remarkable discovery: they found some sort of device, which was attached to some of the ODN relays. This device seemed to have access to the computer systems! While investigating further, Mr. Ded'jol, a member of Mera's security team, was shot by an unknown assailant. Unable to pursue, Mera initiated a transport to Sickbay, where Mr. Ded'jol would be treated. Luckily, the injuries weren't fatal. At about the same time, Captain Kane, while at Main Ops, discovered that although nobody had given the order, and the computer didn't know about it, most of the thruster assemblies of Pandora Station were active. . . causing the station to move closer and closer to the planet below. But when Kane wanted to do something about this, the situation only got worse. A hologram of General Egim, a General in the Dholari military, appeared. It told Captain Kane what nobody had expected: the station was now under control of the Dholari military. Kane, enraged about this, ordered an evacuation of all non-essential personnel to the planet Pandora II.. It was estimated that the station would crash into the planet in two or three hours. If the Starfleet crew couldn't stop the thrusters from crashing the station, then it would be destroyed by the atmosphere of the planet they had always been orbiting. But Kane didn't only order an evacuation. He also ordered aSTC Keening to bring the Dholari who had rescued Jalando from prison, to Main Ops. Also, Kane ordered the senior staff to the Briefing Room, for a meeting. During that meeting, Counsellor Aslam played an incredible game of bluff, knowing that the Dholari might be listening in on their conversation. Hoping to have scared the Dholari into releasing control of the station back to Starfleet, the Pandora crew could only wait and hope for the best. However, word of another tragedy reached the crew's ears. Ms. Keening and Petty Officer Linden had been shot, by the Dholari. These Dholari were now on the run. They couldn't have picked a worse time. Not only was the computer in the Dholari control, but there was also the chaos of the evacuation to think about. Still, Commander Jalando, Lt. Nel and Ensign Stone were ordered to go down to deck 145. . . the place where Keening contacted Kane, before she passed out. When these three officers arrived at deck 145, and saw Keening lying there unconscious, with her knee shattered, Nel and Stone walked towards Keening. . . but Jalando didn't. Instead, he pulled a phaser on these two officers, and initiated a site to site transport. Nel and Stone could do nothing else but transport Keening and Petty Officer Linden to sickbay, and wonder what happened. . . Meanwhile, in Engineering, Jalando rematerialised. He faked a generator overload, causing everyone in Main Engineering to clear the area. ACEO Morabulu was the last one to go. . . but he noticed that Jalando stayed in Engineering, and seemed to have control over the computer! Jalando stopped the overload with a simple command. But that wasn't all: He also erected forcefields around the room, and transported in the Dholari! Captain Kane, who quickly got contacted by Morabulu about the whole Jalando-working-with-the-Dholari matter, took OPS Nel and ASTC Sobra with him to Engineering. There, it became painfully clear that Jalando and the Dholari were not only in control of Engineering. . . but of the entire station. And there seemed to be nothing that any of them could do about it. May 2005 2391.05.28 The situation didn't look good. The station was only an hour, two at the most, away from entering the atmosphere of Pandora II, thereby burning up. The crew was being evacuated, but the senior staff didn't give up just yet. Although they had lost control of the station to Commander Jalando and the Dholari, they formulated a plan. . . or rather, an entire assault. They *had* to get control back of Engineering, where the Dholari and Jalando made their base of Operations. The assault was a success. The Starfleet crew was successful in retaking Engineering, and they even had a prisoner. . . one of the Dholari, known as S'har. Jalando and the rest of the Dholari however, beamed away. . . Captain Kane quickly decided to beam S'har, who was injured, to Sickbay. There, XGO Underhill made a starling discovery. The Dholari was actually no Dholari. . . he was an Andorian, surgically altered to look like a Dholari! And not just that. . . he turned out to be ACMO Vok, who was presumed dead when trying to rescue Commander Jalando. . . Meanwhile, Jalando and the rest of the Dholari had beamed into a cargobay, to try to take control of the station from there. However, a security team lead by Lt. Nel found out. . . and after a firefight, they were victorious. Jalando, the Dholari, and the security team got transported to Sickbay as well, where CO Kane and 2O/CMO Truesdale had already heard the new about the Dholari who was Vok. . . But now the station still had to be saved. The situation seemed grim. . . but luckily Ensign Morabulu found a way: by reprogramming lots of isoliniar chips and by isolating a single part of the computer, they got back control over about 54% of the computer. That was enough to restart the computer. After this, every system on the Station was back in control of the crew. The thrusters, first used to send Pandora Station to its doom, were now used to get the station away from it. But now the Pandora crew have to deal with the treason of Commander Jalando. . . and the possibility of their thought-to-be-dead crewmembers being returned to them. . . June 2005 Stardate 2391.05.28 Even though the station was rescued and was slowly returning to its original orbit, the tension for the crew of Pandora Station was far from over. After all, it had just been discovered that three of the five Dholari were actually not Dholari at all: they were the surgically altered Ms. Zang, Ms. Flanigan, and Mr. Vok: the three crewmembers which had been believed to be dead. This still didn't explain the mystery of why they, with Commander Jalando at their side, had been fighting to destroy Pandora Station. Stardate 2391.05.30: With the Station back in orbit, and life continuing as normal as possible, the Medical Department had found out what caused Flanigan, Zang, Vok and Jalando to turn on their own crew. Apparently a rebel faction on the Dholari and Venoghrian homeworld (Called Q'yth) had wanted to make it appear as if the Dholari were responsible for the destruction of a Starfleet facility. That way, they hoped, Starfleet would take actions against the Dholari, which in turn would result in the total destruction of the Dholari, and ultimately also the Venoghrians. The rebel group would have Q'yth for themselves then. . . Agent T'hims, who had been under the effects of the rebels' drug as well, has returned to his own homeworld. The rebel leader L'kon has been sent to a Federation court, where he will be trailed. Even though Jalando, Vok, Flanigan and Zang had been drugged, and thus not responsible for their actions, it would still be difficult for the crew to trust them, after what these four have done. . . Category:Pandora Station